2015 Racing Roundup

On 19-20th September the last ever UK Gravity Enduro took place in deepest Wales at an awesome spot, called Dyfi. As always the UKGE crew put on an awesome event with a good variety of demanding tracks all spread across some of the most picturesque scenery that I have seen all year.

This season has gone really well for me, steadily getting better results and reaching my goal of getting a top 25 finish in masters. At Dyfi I felt like I was riding really well. I was relaxed and confident on the bike and just focussed on enjoying myself on all of the stages resulting in me finishing with a personal best 21st place in a very competitive field of riders.

Below are a list of considerations, thoughts and lessons from my 2015 season. They are in no particular order, but many of you may benefit from my experiences this year.

1. Invest in yourself before your bike. The main reason that I am getting better results this year is not a fancy set of wheels or the latest carbon bling. It is because I invested time, effort and money in my self improvement as a rider. I obviously trained (I train people for a living!) but I also had skills coaching all winter from my mate Sam at Pedal Progression in Bristol. This is the one thing that made the biggest difference to my riding. If you think you are too good or too fast for coaching then you are wrong. Got a few grand to splash on a new bike so you can ride faster and harder? Cool! Just buy the model down from the one you planned to get and spend the difference on skills coaching and/or strength coaching.

2. Food preparation. Every race I went to, I prepared most of my meals before I left. This meant that I had control over what I ate and I was never reliant on pub grub or the contents of the local Tesco Express. I felt properly fed at all races at all times with steady energy throughout the day, and no bonking incidents! My prep went something like this…..

Pre boil loads of new potatoes that I can fry up with my eggs and bacon for brekky.

Cook a load of sweet potato wedges to have with dinner on Sat night and sometimes Sat lunch too.

Plenty of bananas, berries, flapjack and Nakd bars for snacking in general.

Take a chilli, bolognese or stew in tupperware and reheat it on the Friday night with some rice. This is super important as on the Fri you are usually knackered from traveling and practice and can’t be arsed to cook.

Cold meat, cheese and sometimes soup for Sat lunch.

Meat for BBQ on Sat night.

Torq energy bars, powder and Recovery.

3. Stage conditioning. There are two parts to preparing for the demands of enduro race stages. The first is preparing your whole body and its energy systems to cope with the pumping, stabilising, twisting and general body language needed to navigate technical and often steep trails. This comes from riding those sorts of trails at a race pace in your training before an event. It can also be developed through a proper strength and conditioning programme combined with a flexibility and mobility programme.

The second aspect is to prepare for the hard pedalling efforts required on longer stages, both seated and standing. These tend to be in the region of 30-90 seconds in the UK. You must replicate this in training. It is as much about the physical conditioning as the mental conditioning to push your boundaries and suffer.

4. Look after your goggles! If you can’t see because they are dirty and steamed up with scratched lenses then you can’t ride fast. The same goes for glasses. It is the small details that make the difference. A ziplock bag with some tissues in your pocket is usually a good bet.

5. Real food is ok too. The enduro format means that between stages you are usually riding at a lower intensity meaning that you can eat real food and don’t have to rely purely on sports nutrition products. I personally like a mixture of Torq Mango energy bars and a couple of flapjacks throughout the day. Sometimes I will also have a choccy bar. Do not underestimate the importance of good morale when racing – a nice treat when it is pissing down can really pick you up!

6. Get weight off your back when you can. If you have space for a bottle cage then use one. It you can get your spare tube and tools on your frame then do it.

7. Prepare for 2-3 consecutive days in the saddle. There is no escaping the fact that riding 2-3 days of 40km and 1500m of climbing is going to be hard work, especially when you consider that you may be pushing up and sectioning parts of the track in practice. There is no substitute for time in the saddle in your training plan. Getting to the top of the stages feeling fresh is a massive advantage.

8. Take care of your body. I get to meet loads of people at these races and so many are carrying little injuries or niggles. Sometimes this can’t be helped, it is just part of racing, but sometimes it is because they ignore pain or discomfort. You need to pay attention to your body and when it isn’t quite working correctly you need to find out what is going on and why. You then need to fix it. For many people a flexibility and mobility regime would make a massive difference, but physio or massage may also be a worthwhile investment.

9. Stage 1 preparation. For many people, myself included, stage one of the event on the Sunday morning is really hard to ride well. Many riders let their overall position drop due to a lacklustre performance on the first stage because they are still half asleep and not in race mode. Develop a warm up for your body and brain that will let you perform at your best.

10. Don’t force it. If you aren’t riding your best or don’t feel 100% then pushing harder and getting agro usually leads to more mistakes and crashes. Nobody can feel totally pinned every time they ride or race. When it happens, just relax, think about having fun on your bike rather than racing and it will usually start to fall into place.

Finally I just wanted to say a massive ‘Thanks’ to Steve Parr and the whole UKGE team. Over the last 2 years I have loved all of the races that they put on. Steve let me be a small sponsor in 2014 for FREE as I was a new business and he wanted to help. As he put it, ‘I’m in it for the riding, not the money!’ That sums it all up nicely I think. To all the keyboard warriors on late night forums who gave him such a hard time, sometimes getting very personal, criticising every thing that he did, I hope that you get a lifetime of punctures and horrible chaffing on your arse every time that you ride. You ran him into the ground and are the reason that he has packed it all in. Rant over!

What have you learnt about yourself and about racing this season? It can be any type of racing from marathons to DH and 4X. Do you agree with my points, or do you have something to add? I would love to hear your thoughts over on the MTB Strength Factory Facebook page.